Officials expect Texas blast death toll to rise

Officials expect Texas blast death toll to rise

Officials in Texas put the initial death toll as high as 15 following a massive fertiliser plant explosion in the small town of West, but fear dozens more are dead.

An Instagram photo shows the plume of smoke rising after the explosion in West, Texas (Credit: ABC licensed)

Officials in Texas are putting the initial death toll as high as 15 following a massive fertiliser plant explosion in the small town of West, but fear dozens more are dead.

Local authorities say more than 160 people have been injured in the blast, which flattened nearby homes and businesses.

The town's mayor, who likened the blast to "a nuclear bomb", says as many as seven firefighters and one police officer are unaccounted for.

The missing authorities were on the scene, attending to a massive fire at the plant when the explosion occurred.

A five-block area of the town was levelled and there are fears people are trapped or dead inside about 70 collapsed buildings.

Such was the power of the blast, the US Geological Survey says it registered as a magnitude-2.1 event even though the nearest seismic sensor is about 40 kilometres away.

Waco police sergeant Patrick Swanton told a press conference on Thursday night (AEST) that the death toll "is estimated anywhere from five to 15 at this point", but added that those figures could change.

"My commander, who is on the ground there, is telling me that he is seeing extreme devastation in homes, in some of the businesses."

Much of the centre of town has been evacuated as fires are still smouldering at the plant, sending a toxic plume across the area.

The cause is not immediately known but it is believed to have been an anhydrous ammonia explosion.

Officials are expected to give a further briefing on details of the emergency later tonight (Australian time).

The explosion comes as the US is on edge as it pieces through deadly explosions that hit the Boston marathon earlier this week.

Look back at how the day's events unfolded. All times AEST

11:11pm:

West residents are waking to scenes of destruction in their small town.

Stephanie Ando, a reporter with KBTX Media in the US, described the scene to ABC News 24 just a little while ago.

"Right now we're just starting to see light today. We've actually been here, me and my cameraman, have been here for about seven hours now," she said.

"I can tell you that when we first got here the area near the scene was completely blocked off.

"The only people they were letting in and out were emergency responders and you can imagine they were just focussing on treating the people who were injured at first.

"It's a very small community so it was very obvious that there were emergency vehicles going up and down the highway taking people to the hospitals for hours.

"You could smell the chemicals in the air and anyone that you talked to on the side of the road, people at gas stations, you know, everyone in the community knew someone who was affected or could tell their story about the moment that the explosion happened.

"Everybody felt it for miles away."

10:15pm:

West local Paul Lannuier has uploaded footage of himself travelling through the town shortly after the explosion. He shows scenes of utter devastation from the town:

North America correspondent Brendan Trembath speaks to PM about the number of injured:

"Authorities are refraining from releasing a death toll at this stage. There is talk about hundreds injured. One of the local hospitals in the area just up the road is Waco, about 30 kilometres away. There there's a hospital called Hillcrest and they've treated more than 100 there."

"Earlier I watched ambulances and police cars leave that scene and a long line, so there are many, many people who have been injured."

Eerily, the explosion comes two days before the 20th anniversary of a fire in Waco that engulfed a compound inhabited by David Koresh and his followers in the Branch Davidian sect, ending a siege by federal agents.

Some 82 members of the sect and four federal agents died in the incident.

2:29pm:

There is no immediate official word on what sparked the explosion as emergency personnel help victims and douse the flames.

McLennan County Sheriff Parnell McNamara said there was a lot of devastation.

"I've never seen anything like this.

"It looks like a war zone with all the debris."

2:20pm:

West mayor Tommy Muska says he believes around 60 buildings have been levelled.

Speaking to reporters, Mr Muska, who is also a firefighter, could not confirm reports that some firefighters had been killed fighting the blaze.

He said it was a very dangerous situation for them due to the possibility of a second explosion.

The mayor says he has no confirmation on a death toll.

"There's a lot of people who won't be here tomorrow."

2:12pm:

The chief executive of the Hillcrest Hospital in nearby Waco says an additional 250 to 300 additional staff have been called in to help.

2:10pm:

Local journalist Paul Gately told ABC News 24 that the county sheriff had told him "very many" people were injured:

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